1
00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:07,080
Speaker 1: This is the Drive with Dale Lolly and Matt Williamson

2
00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,400
Speaker 1: show on your twenty four to seven home of the

3
00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,639
Speaker 1: Black and Gold SNR Steelers Nation Radio.

4
00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,480
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Drive. I'm Dale LOLLI he is Man Williamson.

5
00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,040
Speaker 2: It is a beautiful new week here in Pittsburgh, and

6
00:00:22,239 --> 00:00:24,959
Speaker 2: it's an important week here in Pittsburgh, Matt, for a

7
00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,400
Speaker 2: couple of different reasons. First of all, rookie Minnie Camp

8
00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,400
Speaker 2: will be this weekend. The Steelers will be walking them

9
00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:34,159
Speaker 2: in their new draft class and guys coming in to

10
00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:38,240
Speaker 2: try out and things of that nature starting Friday, and

11
00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:42,160
Speaker 2: well by Friday, we will also know the Steelers schedule

12
00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:44,360
Speaker 2: for the twenty twenty three season.

13
00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:48,440
Speaker 1: Yeah, so these next couple days probably won't be riproaring

14
00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:50,519
Speaker 1: your news things a little bit of a calm. But

15
00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,480
Speaker 1: then what Thursday night, It's revealed the schedule, which is

16
00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:56,840
Speaker 1: huge for all you folks that travel.

17
00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:57,560
Speaker 3: A lot of our.

18
00:00:57,440 --> 00:00:59,960
Speaker 1: Listeners, including you, Dale, that you know your travel schedule

19
00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,320
Speaker 1: all needs to get set up. And schedule analysis is

20
00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:05,240
Speaker 1: fun too. I mean I love looking at things like

21
00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,000
Speaker 1: are you playing cold weather teams late in the year,

22
00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:10,119
Speaker 1: You're playing hot weather teams early in the year.

23
00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:11,479
Speaker 3: When's the bye all that.

24
00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,679
Speaker 2: Kind of yeah. And for the Steelers it matters this

25
00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,479
Speaker 2: year because they get some West Coast trips sprinkled in there.

26
00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,080
Speaker 2: You know, when do those fall? Are they on a

27
00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,319
Speaker 2: short week? Things that that, you know, all kinds of

28
00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:27,800
Speaker 2: different little variables in there. And you've got the added thing.

29
00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,080
Speaker 2: We talked about this when we were at the owners meetings,

30
00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:32,960
Speaker 2: that you can have two Thursday night games this year.

31
00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:35,000
Speaker 3: Oh right, right, I forgot about that.

32
00:01:34,959 --> 00:01:37,039
Speaker 2: And I was I was reading some stuff about that

33
00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:41,120
Speaker 2: that said that that, you know, you can expect the

34
00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,759
Speaker 2: teams that the NFL thinks are going to be good

35
00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:47,360
Speaker 2: teams to get double Thursday night games, and maybe some

36
00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:50,000
Speaker 2: other teams not to get any interesting.

37
00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,760
Speaker 1: So let's stick with that for a second because it

38
00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,320
Speaker 1: always bothers me. The thing I hate most about the

39
00:01:56,400 --> 00:02:00,600
Speaker 1: NFL scheduling is a short Thursday night Thursday night week.

40
00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:04,680
Speaker 1: And I'm sure those won't go away, but it wouldn't

41
00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:06,720
Speaker 1: shock me if there's a handful of teams at least

42
00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:09,480
Speaker 1: some instances that play Thursday Thursday.

43
00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:13,200
Speaker 2: You know, like the Cowboys always do that Thanksgiving.

44
00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, And if you can tie that up without having

45
00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:19,760
Speaker 1: a super short week, I think that's a nice advantage,

46
00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:22,040
Speaker 1: you know, I mean being on the same clock and

47
00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:26,239
Speaker 1: those type of things. So I also wonder, Joe blow

48
00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:28,679
Speaker 1: Thursday Night game, Week seven.

49
00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,120
Speaker 2: We've seen a lot of Jags Texans, a lot of

50
00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,120
Speaker 2: you know, I mean what bad games. Yeah, a little bit.

51
00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,680
Speaker 2: I wonder you know, Amazon bought the rice to that

52
00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,440
Speaker 2: last year and dumped it, put a lot of money

53
00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,600
Speaker 2: into it. Obviously. I wonder if Amazon went to went

54
00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:48,440
Speaker 2: to the NFL and said, hey, look, we're playing a lot,

55
00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:50,400
Speaker 2: We're paying a lot of money for this. We don't

56
00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:54,320
Speaker 2: want to see the Rams play the Texans card. Yeah,

57
00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:56,880
Speaker 2: I mean, these are these are not good football games.

58
00:02:57,520 --> 00:02:59,720
Speaker 2: Can we you know, can we put those once in

59
00:02:59,720 --> 00:02:59,960
Speaker 2: a while?

60
00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:01,160
Speaker 3: Yeah? Right.

61
00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:04,320
Speaker 2: Well, in the other part of the equation with that

62
00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:06,520
Speaker 2: scheduling things this year, and I didn't mean to go

63
00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:11,720
Speaker 2: down this path, but we're here with the with the

64
00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,880
Speaker 2: way that the league now schedules the TV stuff. Like

65
00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:17,119
Speaker 2: it used to be, if you were an AFC team

66
00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:19,840
Speaker 2: and you were on the road, you were automatically a

67
00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:21,920
Speaker 2: CBS that was a CBS game unless it was a

68
00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,799
Speaker 2: primetime game. Oka say, if if it was an NFC game,

69
00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:29,000
Speaker 2: you were a Fox game. Or an NFC team on

70
00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:31,440
Speaker 2: the road, you're a Fox game. Well that's changed now,

71
00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,440
Speaker 2: the two different. The network's now bid on these games basically,

72
00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:38,520
Speaker 2: so you know.

73
00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:40,680
Speaker 3: So there's not steadfast rules.

74
00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:43,840
Speaker 2: Right, I mean, there there are rules that the networks

75
00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,840
Speaker 2: have to comply to it, but they you know, they

76
00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:49,920
Speaker 2: can protect games and do things of that nature, but

77
00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:51,800
Speaker 2: there's only so many they can protect. And you know,

78
00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,240
Speaker 2: things are that things that I don't underplan, you know,

79
00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:57,800
Speaker 2: pretend to understand all of the stuff involved with the

80
00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:01,120
Speaker 2: way that the league does the scheduling stuff and divvy's

81
00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,080
Speaker 2: up the games. But you know, you can bet that

82
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:07,960
Speaker 2: you know, for example, Kansas City's going to play a

83
00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,120
Speaker 2: lot of prime time or not primetime, but the national

84
00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,240
Speaker 2: game of the week at four o'clock or four thirty

85
00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,000
Speaker 2: makes sense, right, you know, things of that nature that

86
00:04:16,960 --> 00:04:19,159
Speaker 2: you know, and the networks are going to protect those

87
00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,520
Speaker 2: games and not allow them to get shipped off to

88
00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:25,279
Speaker 2: other you know, times and things of that nature. So

89
00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,520
Speaker 2: it's gonna be interesting, and I believe that's been one

90
00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:32,120
Speaker 2: of the hold ups. If you remember, in previous years,

91
00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:37,440
Speaker 2: the league would announce some of the schedule, the primetime

92
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,839
Speaker 2: games in particular ahead of time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay,

93
00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:43,240
Speaker 2: tease you a little bit. Yeah, So there was a

94
00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,000
Speaker 2: there were meetings today with Roger Goodell and the schedulers

95
00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:49,800
Speaker 2: to go over that prime time schedule because they couldn't

96
00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:52,760
Speaker 2: nail some of that stuff down because it's much more.

97
00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,880
Speaker 2: There are more networks now trying to take a bite

98
00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,000
Speaker 2: of the pie here, and the league is of course

99
00:04:58,040 --> 00:04:59,039
Speaker 2: beholden to all of them.

100
00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:00,080
Speaker 3: Okay.

101
00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:04,200
Speaker 1: Interesting, So Amazon is now you know, obviously skews things

102
00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,560
Speaker 1: as well, and it all lends itself to the NFL

103
00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:09,760
Speaker 1: is more popular than ever and more people were seeing it.

104
00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:13,680
Speaker 1: I mean, is my big takeaway on that? You know,

105
00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:15,960
Speaker 1: spit it back to the Steelers and I'm sure most

106
00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:19,360
Speaker 1: of our listeners know this, but more opportunities than ever

107
00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,320
Speaker 1: to see the Steelers because they got nine home games

108
00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:24,599
Speaker 1: instead of eight this year. So I know, we have

109
00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,480
Speaker 1: a lot of people that are listening that don't live

110
00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,000
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh that probably travel in once or twice a

111
00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:31,560
Speaker 1: year and check out a game. And trust me, I

112
00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,960
Speaker 1: have a lot of acquaintances that are on the edge

113
00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,760
Speaker 1: of their seat to Steelers at Vegas.

114
00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:40,640
Speaker 2: When is that one gonna be? That's the big one,

115
00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:42,760
Speaker 2: that's the one that everybody's going to be looking at.

116
00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:44,480
Speaker 3: I believe in what I'm jealous.

117
00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:46,160
Speaker 1: I'm not a fan, you know, like I'd like to

118
00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,200
Speaker 1: do that once a year, just take my job and

119
00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,040
Speaker 1: put it away for a week and go party with

120
00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:52,800
Speaker 1: my buds for three days and do that.

121
00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,960
Speaker 2: That's the funny thing about being at the games each

122
00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,160
Speaker 2: week is, you know everybody thinks game days are you know,

123
00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,720
Speaker 2: fun time for game days. Game days sixteen you know,

124
00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,800
Speaker 2: sixteen hours of work. I'm not at the game having fun.

125
00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:10,479
Speaker 2: I'm at the game working. Now. That doesn't mean I

126
00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:12,560
Speaker 2: don't go out and have some fun the night before

127
00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,760
Speaker 2: the game. That's a little different. But you know, the

128
00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:18,440
Speaker 2: day of the game is the day of the game,

129
00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:20,760
Speaker 2: and I enjoy the game.

130
00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,040
Speaker 3: I mean they're still fanning me. And I wouldn't do

131
00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:24,560
Speaker 3: this for a living if I didn't enjoy the game.

132
00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:26,280
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you watch the game and you enjoy the

133
00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:28,520
Speaker 2: great the great plays. I don't care who makes them,

134
00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:30,520
Speaker 2: you know, but I enjoy the great plays. I like

135
00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,400
Speaker 2: watching the you know, great players do things. But you know,

136
00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:37,799
Speaker 2: game days work. Game Day's not terrible towels and grilling

137
00:06:37,839 --> 00:06:40,560
Speaker 2: in iron cities all day long. No I'm not in

138
00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,279
Speaker 2: the parking lot, you know, down in a bunch of

139
00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,320
Speaker 2: beers before I go to work. That's not how this

140
00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:46,600
Speaker 2: whole thing goes like.

141
00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:48,800
Speaker 1: I mean, that was the first twenty five years of

142
00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:50,760
Speaker 1: my life, and I do miss that a little. Well,

143
00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,040
Speaker 1: probably the beers didn't come till about fifteen.

144
00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:58,119
Speaker 2: But but my buddy's going to Vegas.

145
00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:00,320
Speaker 1: I know, a plenty of will and plenty of our listeners. Well,

146
00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:02,520
Speaker 1: that'll be one to be like, hmm, I bet that

147
00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:03,200
Speaker 1: would be fun.

148
00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,039
Speaker 2: Yeah, So that's gonna be, you know, certainly one of

149
00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,920
Speaker 2: the games that that people look at on the Steelers schedule.

150
00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,120
Speaker 2: Let me call the schedule up here real quick, just

151
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:16,200
Speaker 2: to remind people of what they've got this.

152
00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:20,280
Speaker 1: Year, especially considering how hard the division is, how difficult

153
00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:21,120
Speaker 1: the conference is.

154
00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:23,280
Speaker 2: They get off easy though, at least the way it

155
00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,440
Speaker 2: looks right now. Yeah, it's again a lot of that's

156
00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:28,679
Speaker 2: going to depend on when some of these games are played,

157
00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:31,760
Speaker 2: where they fall, you know, do you have back to

158
00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:33,840
Speaker 2: back or three in a row with road games and

159
00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:42,720
Speaker 2: things of that nature. So the home schedules Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Arizona,

160
00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:48,960
Speaker 2: San Francisco, that's your home schedule for this season. So

161
00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:50,920
Speaker 2: I mean when you look at that game, Okay, the

162
00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:54,800
Speaker 2: Ravens the Bengals, we'll give that. We'll say the Browns

163
00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:56,760
Speaker 2: are going to be at at least, you know, a

164
00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:57,360
Speaker 2: tougher game.

165
00:07:58,040 --> 00:07:58,400
Speaker 3: I think a.

166
00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,000
Speaker 2: Division games a gonna be tough this year for the Star. Yeah,

167
00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,520
Speaker 2: you know, Jacksonville's a returning playoff team. The Titans are

168
00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:09,000
Speaker 2: gonna stink. The Cardinals are going to stink. When do

169
00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:11,280
Speaker 2: they play San Francisco. That's a big part of.

170
00:08:11,240 --> 00:08:13,640
Speaker 3: This, big part of it. And who's their quarterback?

171
00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,240
Speaker 2: Right, So if you get San Francisco and say the

172
00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,320
Speaker 2: first six weeks of the of the season, and it's

173
00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,440
Speaker 2: Sam Donald, let's say that's a bit that's a much

174
00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:29,680
Speaker 2: different animal. I'm sorry, it just is. Steelers just played

175
00:08:29,680 --> 00:08:33,160
Speaker 2: Sam Donald last year late last year, So you know

176
00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:34,760
Speaker 2: that makes a big difference. If you look at the

177
00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:36,240
Speaker 2: road schedule real quick.

178
00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,440
Speaker 1: On the Niners, I don't know that any of their

179
00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,240
Speaker 1: three quarterbacks are good, right, that's the other point.

180
00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:42,800
Speaker 3: They're all different.

181
00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:44,680
Speaker 1: I don't know if any of them are good, but

182
00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:46,280
Speaker 1: I do know that's talking be an easy game.

183
00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:49,079
Speaker 2: No, it won't be, but you'd much rather play them here.

184
00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,560
Speaker 2: I mean, the Steelers have just not traditionally played well

185
00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:52,600
Speaker 2: in San Francisco.

186
00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:55,800
Speaker 3: To me in that game is it's here.

187
00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:58,160
Speaker 2: But you should be a you know, if you can

188
00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:01,160
Speaker 2: get through your home schedule, what do they got nine

189
00:09:01,200 --> 00:09:03,280
Speaker 2: home games this year? If you can get through that

190
00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:05,040
Speaker 2: six and three right right?

191
00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:05,360
Speaker 3: Right?

192
00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:07,920
Speaker 1: I mean, okay, two and four in a division, you

193
00:09:07,920 --> 00:09:11,760
Speaker 1: could probably still get the you know, six wins at home.

194
00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,680
Speaker 2: Right if you look at the road schedule at Cincinnati,

195
00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:24,000
Speaker 2: at Baltimore, at Cleveland, at Houston, at Indianapolis, at the Rams,

196
00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,600
Speaker 2: now that's yeah. At Seattle will be a tougher game.

197
00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:29,520
Speaker 3: That's a brutal one.

198
00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,959
Speaker 2: Right at the Raiders, I don't think there's gonna be

199
00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:35,640
Speaker 2: anything great. We talked about that one. And then they

200
00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,560
Speaker 2: got the Patriots and Packers at home as well.

201
00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:41,720
Speaker 1: I bet there's a fair amount of Steeler fans at Indy.

202
00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:42,800
Speaker 1: That's an easy trip.

203
00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:45,880
Speaker 2: At Houston, need to get to, right, you know, I mean, yeah,

204
00:09:45,960 --> 00:09:48,559
Speaker 2: Houston's Houston is another one. It wouldn't surprise me to

205
00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:50,200
Speaker 2: see them fill up the Rams Stadium.

206
00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:52,160
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah.

207
00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:54,080
Speaker 2: And then you said green Bay and who is the

208
00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:57,080
Speaker 2: other green Bay? And Green Bay and New England are

209
00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,960
Speaker 2: the other two home games. Those are the two once

210
00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:02,640
Speaker 2: a match up with with how you know where you

211
00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:03,560
Speaker 2: finished last year?

212
00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:04,480
Speaker 3: I gotcha?

213
00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:08,840
Speaker 2: Okay, so again you get the Packers at home. Packers

214
00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:11,760
Speaker 2: Jordan love the Patriots.

215
00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:14,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, Patriots always hard to play against. But they're not

216
00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,040
Speaker 1: a very talented team, you know what I mean Again,

217
00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:21,000
Speaker 1: especially being in this division, in this conference and not

218
00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,439
Speaker 1: being the last place team. You know, they they got

219
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,839
Speaker 1: pretty fortunate the way it looks, and one or two

220
00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:29,640
Speaker 1: of those teams we be better than we think, Like

221
00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:31,680
Speaker 1: the Colts come to mind. Like I think the Colts

222
00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,160
Speaker 1: could compete for that division. I don't think they're good good,

223
00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:36,360
Speaker 1: but that's a bad division. They could be a five

224
00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:39,600
Speaker 1: hundred type team and they run all over teams. But

225
00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:42,680
Speaker 1: maybe Seattle's decent. But we're already making that in you know,

226
00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:48,960
Speaker 1: Like I can't imagine Cardinals, Houston Rams even being near

227
00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:49,640
Speaker 1: five hundred.

228
00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:53,079
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you're talking about you know, we did

229
00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,800
Speaker 2: power rankings last week. Those are there's a bunch of

230
00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:00,480
Speaker 2: teams on that list that were in the twenties lower.

231
00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:03,040
Speaker 1: So real quick, off the top of your head, if

232
00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,320
Speaker 1: you are you still looking at the schedule, Yeah. If

233
00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,080
Speaker 1: if we were to power rank just the teams on

234
00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:14,720
Speaker 1: the schedule, including the Steelers, who's behind.

235
00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:20,120
Speaker 2: The Steelers on their schedule? Yeah, okay, Cleveland.

236
00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:21,720
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say the Browns is the only one in

237
00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:23,960
Speaker 1: the division that I'm gonna say. I'll stand on the

238
00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,240
Speaker 1: table that the Steelers are better than them right now.

239
00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:29,439
Speaker 2: Jacksonville's debatable.

240
00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,359
Speaker 3: Okay, let's not even do debatables.

241
00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:32,520
Speaker 2: Then.

242
00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:33,760
Speaker 3: I think Baltimore is debatable.

243
00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:37,559
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is, You're right. Tennessee for sure, Tennessee for sure.

244
00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:47,040
Speaker 2: Arizona Arizona, yes, Houston yeah, Indianapolis agreed, the Rams, yes,

245
00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:49,839
Speaker 2: I think the Seahawks.

246
00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:51,880
Speaker 3: Debatable.

247
00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:54,400
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna give I'll say, since the game is

248
00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,880
Speaker 2: up there, I'll give the Seahawks the edge. Yeah. But yeah,

249
00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:01,760
Speaker 2: if the Raiders bet the Steelers are a dog, Yeah,

250
00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:03,000
Speaker 2: the Raiders for sure.

251
00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:04,079
Speaker 3: Raiders for sure.

252
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,400
Speaker 1: The Patriots, I'm gonna say, yes, so I'll give you

253
00:12:07,440 --> 00:12:10,000
Speaker 1: that one. Yeah, and the Packers. I think the Packers

254
00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:13,640
Speaker 1: clearly are. I think the Patriots Packers.

255
00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,880
Speaker 2: So if you look at the toss up games here, Seattle.

256
00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:20,079
Speaker 3: And maybe Cleveland should be in the toss up category.

257
00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,120
Speaker 2: But even if they, let's say they split with the Browns,

258
00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:23,959
Speaker 2: you play them twice.

259
00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,559
Speaker 1: Let's say, so, yeah, real quick, I counted ten games

260
00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:30,079
Speaker 1: that were under the Steelers.

261
00:12:30,480 --> 00:12:33,160
Speaker 2: Let's move that to eight and put the Browns in

262
00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,679
Speaker 2: the debatable category. Okay, but again, you play them twice.

263
00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:42,160
Speaker 2: So if you split those games right, right, and then

264
00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,960
Speaker 2: you you split your games, you got at Seattle at

265
00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:47,120
Speaker 2: the Raiders.

266
00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:50,520
Speaker 3: I think the recount of the Raiders is below.

267
00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,200
Speaker 2: They're okay, they're bad, yeah, but it is, it is

268
00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:57,599
Speaker 2: out there. Yeah, So let's look, Jacksonville at home is

269
00:12:57,960 --> 00:12:58,600
Speaker 2: a toss up game.

270
00:12:59,080 --> 00:12:59,720
Speaker 3: Toss up game.

271
00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:04,319
Speaker 2: Beat the Ravens in one of those two games.

272
00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,360
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say both Ravens games are toss up games, right,

273
00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:10,560
Speaker 1: and then it is a toss up game.

274
00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:12,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, So where does that put you?

275
00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,160
Speaker 3: So there's eight teams that we think, right the second

276
00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,439
Speaker 3: are clearly below the Steelers. Right, seven games are toss

277
00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:27,000
Speaker 3: up games. Cleveland twice, Baltimore, Seattle, Jacksonville. There was one

278
00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,800
Speaker 3: other in there. So that's fifteen of your games you're

279
00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,400
Speaker 3: at least on par with or better.

280
00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:36,560
Speaker 2: I think San Francisco at home is a game that

281
00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:37,200
Speaker 2: you should win.

282
00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,719
Speaker 1: So I must have been counting wrong. So I think

283
00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,360
Speaker 1: San fran and Cincy twice are the only two games.

284
00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,319
Speaker 1: You say, if we're power ranking of the day, they're

285
00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,960
Speaker 1: ahead of the Steelers. But San Fran is a wild card.

286
00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,400
Speaker 2: San Fran is in Pittsburgh. Yeah, and we don't know

287
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:56,840
Speaker 2: who the quarterback is going to be, right.

288
00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:59,640
Speaker 1: Right, right, that's favorable. I mean it's in place, you know,

289
00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:03,840
Speaker 1: and since he's good. It's not like they've never beat

290
00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:04,400
Speaker 1: the Bengals.

291
00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:07,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, you split with them last year. Yeah, yeah, you know,

292
00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,160
Speaker 2: so it's not like you can't beat that team.

293
00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:13,600
Speaker 3: No, it sets up well.

294
00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:16,760
Speaker 2: Again to your point, I mean, even if you let's

295
00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:19,240
Speaker 2: say you go to and four in the division. Let's

296
00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:21,920
Speaker 2: say you get swept by the Bengals, but you split

297
00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:28,720
Speaker 2: with the Ravens, you split with the Browns. If you

298
00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,800
Speaker 2: Tennessee at home, you should win, Cardinals at home, you

299
00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:38,360
Speaker 2: should win. That's that's four wins, four wins. At Houston,

300
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,720
Speaker 2: should win. That's five. At Indianapolis you should win. That's

301
00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:48,240
Speaker 2: six at the Rams, that's seven. You should win. Seattle.

302
00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,520
Speaker 2: We won't count at the Raiders.

303
00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:53,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, they're not gonna win everyone that you

304
00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,200
Speaker 1: should win. It works, but.

305
00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:00,680
Speaker 2: That would get you to eight, beat the Patriots at home,

306
00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:02,400
Speaker 2: beat the Packers at home. That's ten.

307
00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:05,120
Speaker 3: I bet they split those, you know, just how the

308
00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:05,680
Speaker 3: league works.

309
00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:07,560
Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean, and you'll beat a team you

310
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,640
Speaker 1: should in San fran or Sincy or you know, right,

311
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,640
Speaker 1: I mean, it looks like ten wins is extremely attainable.

312
00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:17,400
Speaker 1: And then thinking about off the top of my head,

313
00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:21,320
Speaker 1: there aren't many weather games I care about where they

314
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:23,400
Speaker 1: fall in the schedule for the Steelers because like, Green

315
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:24,600
Speaker 1: Bay's here, it's not like.

316
00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:28,440
Speaker 2: It's gonna be Week eighteen. Right, there's so Denver. I

317
00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:30,480
Speaker 2: would hate going to Denver the first couple of weeks.

318
00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:35,400
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any in Florida, right, They're not Houston.

319
00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:39,080
Speaker 2: If you play in Houston in Week one, I've done that.

320
00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,280
Speaker 2: They've been down there before for that one and they

321
00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,120
Speaker 2: leave the roof open. It can get hot, it can

322
00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,160
Speaker 2: make it, I'm sure. And Arizona's here, right, Arizona is

323
00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:48,280
Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh.

324
00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:50,240
Speaker 1: Yes, And if you play Seattle late in the year,

325
00:15:50,840 --> 00:15:52,760
Speaker 1: so what is that really any different than playing here

326
00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:53,120
Speaker 1: late in the.

327
00:15:53,160 --> 00:15:56,880
Speaker 2: Year, right, No, you're right, I mean there's it's it

328
00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:01,000
Speaker 2: sets up well in that regardless too. So you know

329
00:16:01,200 --> 00:16:03,360
Speaker 2: when people look at this team, and you know the

330
00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:05,400
Speaker 2: if you look at the over under, it's eight and

331
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:10,520
Speaker 2: a half. M Sorry, I'd be all over that I

332
00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:10,920
Speaker 2: would do.

333
00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:15,040
Speaker 1: And I actually did a podcast about that the other day.

334
00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:18,000
Speaker 1: I'm like, this is a crazy number. I mean, especially

335
00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,720
Speaker 1: who the teams are playing, you expect the offense to

336
00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,240
Speaker 1: be better. I think the defense will be similar. So

337
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:28,920
Speaker 1: even if you play Houston in Week one, I mean

338
00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:30,120
Speaker 1: that's a rookie quarterback.

339
00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,520
Speaker 2: A rookie quarterback. Well, let's just look, let's just look

340
00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:33,640
Speaker 2: at it from that respect.

341
00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:34,520
Speaker 3: Yeah.

342
00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:41,440
Speaker 2: So, okay, Ravens, the Bengals, the Browns, the Jaguars, the Titans.

343
00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,000
Speaker 2: Are they going to be do they come out of

344
00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:45,640
Speaker 2: the gate with Tanny Hill? Do you see do you

345
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:47,680
Speaker 2: see Will Levis somehow winning that job?

346
00:16:48,800 --> 00:16:50,680
Speaker 1: I think that one depends when you play them, because

347
00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:52,200
Speaker 1: there's season is going to go to hell and there'll

348
00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:53,720
Speaker 1: be one and five and right.

349
00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:55,760
Speaker 2: So you could get Will Levis in that game. That's

350
00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:00,640
Speaker 2: one potential rookie quarterback. Arizona, when do you play them? Right,

351
00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:01,680
Speaker 2: that's another.

352
00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:02,360
Speaker 3: Looking for rookies.

353
00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:05,760
Speaker 2: Okay, but if you're playing Arizona in the first few

354
00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:08,679
Speaker 2: weeks of the season, you're not seeing Kyler Murray. Oh,

355
00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:13,399
Speaker 2: I think you're gonna get Clayton Tune right, right, forty

356
00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,800
Speaker 2: nine Ers, we talked about that forty nine Ers quarterback situation.

357
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:18,720
Speaker 2: I don't know who the hell is going to be

358
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:19,960
Speaker 2: quarterbacking for them.

359
00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,000
Speaker 1: I mean, who's to predict what's going to happen and

360
00:17:22,160 --> 00:17:24,399
Speaker 1: during the season. But it wouldn't shock me if the

361
00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:27,719
Speaker 1: Cardinals are one and nine and Kyler's.

362
00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:29,800
Speaker 3: Could come back. But why right?

363
00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,040
Speaker 2: I mean you may not see him no matter when

364
00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:37,600
Speaker 2: you play the Cardinals. Houston rookie quarterback, yeah, Indianapolis very

365
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:42,440
Speaker 2: potentially a rookie quarterback? Yeah? Or Minshew Yeah. What's going

366
00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,600
Speaker 2: on with the Rams? I don't know. Oh, I think

367
00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:48,119
Speaker 2: Stetsan Bennett's going to play football this year? Yeah? So

368
00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:53,720
Speaker 2: when do you play them Seattle for Week one? Right? Yeah,

369
00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:57,360
Speaker 2: we don't know. And who are you looking at it?

370
00:17:57,920 --> 00:17:58,280
Speaker 3: Go ahead?

371
00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,040
Speaker 2: As I said, the Raid, you're gonna see Jimmy g

372
00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:05,479
Speaker 2: The Patriots you're gonna see probably gonna see Mac Jones, right,

373
00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:09,080
Speaker 2: and then the Packers you're getting Jordan Love when you

374
00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:11,520
Speaker 2: play them. That's another one that like, you play the

375
00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:16,080
Speaker 2: Packers early in the season, Jordan Love has one career start. Yeah,

376
00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:17,159
Speaker 2: I don't even know that matters.

377
00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:19,840
Speaker 1: I mean, because I was gonna take the other angle.

378
00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:25,400
Speaker 1: What star quarterbacks do you play besides Lamar twice, Burrowed twice,

379
00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:28,400
Speaker 1: and maybe Watson twice.

380
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:31,520
Speaker 2: Lawrence Lawrence, Yeah, that was the other one, Ikne, there

381
00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,679
Speaker 2: was one I didn't. Yeah, that's really it. And unless

382
00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,840
Speaker 2: you know, unless Stafford bounces back, boy, that seems like

383
00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,040
Speaker 2: a long shot. If he does, he doesn't block him

384
00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:45,440
Speaker 2: for him, right, Yeah, I mean, if this defense bounces back,

385
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:52,480
Speaker 2: it becomes what you know he typically has been, could

386
00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:53,480
Speaker 2: be pretty good.

387
00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,280
Speaker 1: Absolutely, So I'm just pulling this side of my butt

388
00:18:57,280 --> 00:18:59,080
Speaker 1: to be honest with you. But if you rank the

389
00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:03,120
Speaker 1: visions by just the quarterback play, I bet the AFC

390
00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:05,520
Speaker 1: North is first second.

391
00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,040
Speaker 2: I mean it's yeah, it's in the conversation.

392
00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:13,399
Speaker 1: And outside the division, the only high end quarterback you're

393
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:14,240
Speaker 1: playing is Lawrence.

394
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:16,199
Speaker 3: I mean, you gotta play the division teams no matter what.

395
00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:21,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you're very familiar with those teams, yeah, absolutely,

396
00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:24,520
Speaker 2: Like nobody, nobody knows how to defend Lamar Jackson like

397
00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:25,560
Speaker 2: the Steelers.

398
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,360
Speaker 3: Do right, right, right, And I don't know if Watson's any.

399
00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:31,880
Speaker 2: Good Son it sets up very favorably for the Steelers.

400
00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:34,800
Speaker 2: You know, I know I've heard people and what why

401
00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:37,280
Speaker 2: are Steeler fans so excited this year? That's a big

402
00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:40,639
Speaker 2: part of it. Well, yeah, and we'll find out that.

403
00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,200
Speaker 2: We'll find out later this week, you know, exactly how

404
00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:45,240
Speaker 2: that schedule falls, and that's going to be a huge

405
00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,000
Speaker 2: factor in this season for them.

406
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:52,560
Speaker 1: Huge because, to be frank, they've had got this time

407
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,800
Speaker 1: of the year the last three, four or five years.

408
00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:57,879
Speaker 1: You knew their schedule was not going to be.

409
00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,159
Speaker 2: On the easy side, right what metric it's been the

410
00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,520
Speaker 2: opposite of late they finally caught a break and it

411
00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,040
Speaker 2: wasn't because they were a terrible team. It just broke

412
00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:09,440
Speaker 2: their way this year, you know, I mean, so it's

413
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,840
Speaker 2: the way the schedule falls. Yeah, yeah, Hey, you can

414
00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,520
Speaker 2: now listen to Steelers Nation Radio anytime anywhere through your

415
00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,480
Speaker 2: smart speaker. Just say Alexa, play Steelers Nation Radio from

416
00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,119
Speaker 2: my heart and Alexa will take care of the rest.

417
00:20:21,640 --> 00:20:24,399
Speaker 2: He is Matt Williamson. I am Dale Lawley. You're listening

418
00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:27,119
Speaker 2: to the drive here on Steelers Nation Radio. We'll be

419
00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,040
Speaker 2: back with more right after this